Fluorescent biosensors are powerful analytical tools for studying biological events in living systems. Luminescent materials with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) attributes have attracted much research interest and have been identified as a novel class of luminogens to develop fluorescent turn-on biosensors with superior sensitivity. In this Tutorial Review, we present an overview of the AIE phenomenon and its mechanism. We summarize the structural design and working principle of AIE biosensors developed recently. Typical examples of AIE biosensors are presented.

Biosensing by Luminogens with Aggregation-induced Emission Characteristics

Driven by functionality and purity demand for applications of inorganic nanoparticle colloids in optics, biology, and energy, their surface chemistry has become a topic of intensive research interest. Consequently, ligand-free colloids are ideal reference materials for evaluating the effects of surface adsorbates from the initial state for application-oriented nanointegration purposes. After two decades of development, laser synthesis and processing of colloids (LSPC) has emerged as a convenient and scalable technique for the synthesis of ligand-free nanomaterials in sealed environments. In addition to the high-purity surface of LSPC-generated nanoparticles, other strengths of LSPC include its high throughput, convenience for preparing alloys or series of doped nanomaterials, and its continuous operation mode, suitable for downstream processing. Unscreened surface charge of LSPC-synthesized colloids is the key to achieving colloidal stability and high affinity to biomolecules as well as support materials,...

Laser Synthesis and Processing of Colloids: Fundamentals and Applications

In vivo imaging, which enables us to peer deeply within living subjects, is producing tremendous opportunities both for clinical diagnostics and as a research tool. Contrast material is often required to clearly visualize the functional architecture of physiological structures. Recent advances in nanomaterials are becoming pivotal to generate the high-resolution, high-contrast images needed for accurate, precision diagnostics. Nanomaterials are playing major roles in imaging by delivering large imaging payloads, yielding improved sensitivity, multiplexing capacity, and modularity of design. Indeed, for several imaging modalities, nanomaterials are now not simply ancillary contrast entities, but are instead the original and sole source of image signal that make possible the modality’s existence. We address the physicochemical makeup/design of nanomaterials through the lens of the physical properties that produce contrast signal for the cognate imaging modality—we stratify nanomaterials on the basis of thei...

Nanomaterials for In Vivo Imaging

1.1. Cancer and Early Detection
Cancer is the second most common cause of death in the United States, trailing only heart disease in incidence. Despite significant worldwide investment in research, cancer remains responsible for 1 in 4 deaths in developed countries.1 Globally, over 14 million cancer diagnoses were reported in 2012, a figure expected to increase to over 22 million cases per annum in the next two decades.2 Estimated to kill over 1/2 million U.S. citizens, and with over 1.6 million new cases predicted to be diagnosed this year,3 cancer continues to present a major, yet unmet challenge to healthcare both globally and in the United States.

Cancer emerges from our own tissues, complicating both detection and treatment methods due to the similarities between the diseased tissue and healthy tissue.4,5 Despite this fact, the mortality rate from cancer is often greatly reduced by early detection of the disease. For example, non-small-cell lung cancer is responsible for the most cancer related deaths worldwide, with patients in the advanced stages of the disease having only 5–15% and <2% 5-year survival rates for stage III and IV patients, respectively.6 In contrast, patients who start therapy in the early stages of the disease (stage I) have markedly improved survival rates, with an 80% overall 5-year survival rate.6 Consequently, early diagnosis is essential to improving cancer patient prognosis.

At present, clinical detection of cancer primarily relies on imaging techniques or the morphological analysis of cells that are suspected to be diseased (cytology) or tissues (histopathology). Imaging techniques applied to cancer detection, including X-ray, mammography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), endoscopy, and ultrasound, have low sensitivity and are limited in their ability to differentiate between benign and malignant lesions.7,8 While cytology, such as testing for cervical cancer via a Pap smear or occult blood detection, may be used to distinguish between healthy and diseased cells or tissues, it is not effective at detecting cancer at early stages. Similarly, histopathology, which generally relies on taking a biopsy of a suspected tumor, is typically used to probe the malignancy of tissues that are identified through alternative imaging techniques, such as CT or MRI, and may not be used alone to detect cancer in its early stages. As such, the development of assays and methods for early detection of cancer, before the disease becomes symptomatic, presents a major challenge.

Recent research within the field of nanotechnology has focused on addressing the limitations of the currently available methods for cancer diagnosis. Certain nanoparticle probes possess several unique properties that are advantageous for use in the detection of cancer at the early stages. In this review, we will discuss the advances in the development of nanoparticle-based methods for the detection of cancer by fluorescence spectroscopy. We will divide this topic into three categories: techniques that are designed for (1) the detection of extracellular cancer biomarkers, (2) the detection of cancer cells, and (3) the detection of cancerous tissues in vivo. We will discuss these strategies within the context of the nanoparticle probe used as well as the recognition moieties applied in each approach. Ultimately, the translation of these methods from the laboratory to the clinic may enable earlier detection of cancer and could extend patient survival through the ability to administer therapeutic treatment in the early stages of the disease.

While this review provides a comprehensive overview of the nanoparticle probes that are used to detect cancer in vitro and in vivo through fluorescence, there are several other relevant reviews that may be of interest to our readers, who may refer to the references for more generalized reviews of nanomaterials used for diagnostics and therapy,9–12 or more detailed insight into the specific types of nanoparticle probes (i.e., quantum dots,13 gold nanoparticles,14,15 upconversion nanoparticles,16 polymer dots,17,18 silica nanoparticles,19 polymeric nanoparticles, 20 etc.) for cancer diagnosis.

Nanoparticle Probes for the Detection of Cancer Biomarkers, Cells, and Tissues by Fluorescence

Supramolecular Amphiphiles Based on Host-Guest Molecular Recognition Motifs.

Related Systems: New Insights into Biosensing, Bioimaging, Genomics, Diagnostics, and Therapy Jun Yao,† Mei Yang,† and Yixiang Duan*,†,‡ †Research Center of Analytical Instrumentation, Analytical and Testing Center, College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610064, China ‡Research Center of Analytical Instrumentation, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610064, China

Chemistry, Biology, and Medicine of Fluorescent Nanomaterials and Related Systems: New Insights into Biosensing, Bioimaging, Genomics, Diagnostics, and Therapy

Recent experimental and industrial advances in the field of nanotechnologies have boosted the development of interdisciplinary research, one of the most constructive and inspiring of human pursuits. Many scientists specialize in manufacturing new forms of nanomaterials that hold promise for various applications such as medical diagnosis and therapy, environmental monitoring, energy production and storage, molecular computing and much more. Graphene, an increasingly important nanosized material reported in 2004, has emerged to become an exciting two-dimensional material with distinct attributes that has attracted great interest in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology and medicine, as well as their related interdisciplinarities. The unique nature of graphene makes it stand out and applicable to various technologies. Its photoelectric properties and inherent Raman spectroscopy make it an ideal candidate for the development of new devices and methods in many branches of life sciences and technology. The electronic properties of graphene make it a highly useful nanomaterial. It carries a high charge mobility which allows it to be extensively applied to field effect transistors. Graphene also has unparalleled transparency and conductivity, making it a viable electrode in solar cells. In addition, the specific area of graphene makes energy storage possible. Although these properties are inherent to the compound, graphene can also be modified into a better nanomaterial. Due to its outstanding performance, graphene development shows great promise in several scientific fields. This paper aims to elaborate on the details of current studies using graphene with regards to the optical and electronic characteristics, fabrication techniques, and various relevant applications.

Chemistry, physics and biology of graphene-based nanomaterials: new horizons for sensing, imaging and medicine

Every few years, a novel material with salient and often unique properties emerges and attracts both academic and industrial interest from the scientific community. The latest blockbuster is graphene, an increasingly important nanomaterial with atomically thin sheets of carbon, which has become a shining star and has shown great promise in the field of material science and nanotechnology. In recent years, it has changed from being the exclusive domain of physicists to the new passion of chemists and biologists. Graphene and its derivatives are now at the forefront of nearly every rapidly developing field of science and engineering, including biochemistry, biomedicine and certain cutting-edge interdisciplines that have intense popularity. The aim of this review is, firstly, to provide readers with a comprehensive, systematic and in-depth prospective of graphene's band structure and properties, and secondly, to concentrate on the recent progress in producing graphene-based nanomaterials, including mechanical exfoliation, chemical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, chemical reduction of graphene oxide, total organic synthesis, electrochemical synthesis and other fabrication strategies widely accepted by research scientists. At the same time, important definitions related to graphene are also introduced. The focus of this Tutorial Review is to emphasize the current situation and significance of using this new kind of two-dimensional material in the hot and emerging fields that are closely related to human life quality, for instance, cell biochemistry, bioimaging along with other frontier areas. Finally, the latest developments and possible impact that affect the heart of the whole scientific community have been discussed. In addition, the future trends along with potential challenges of this rapidly rising layered carbon have been pointed out in this paper.

Graphene and its derivatives for cell biotechnology

Highly luminescent CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were prepared through a fast, facile, and straightforward method. The crystal structure, particle size, optical properties as well as molecular interactions between the CdTe QDs and their capping agents have been investigated by high resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction, scanning transmission electron microscope–energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, UV-vis absorption, photoluminescence, and Fourier transform infrared, respectively. The results illustrate that the CdTe nanoparticles exhibit cubic structure and the average crystallite size is 2.3 nm. Meanwhile, fluorescence and UV-vis spectroscopic techniques were used to study the interaction between hemin and the well-defined CdTe QDs. In weak basic media, the fluorescence of CdTe QDs was quenched notably by hemin, and the quenching values were proportional to the concentration of the quencher in a certain range. The quenching mechanism was discussed to be a dynamic quenching procedure, collisional process, and hemin as a fluorescence quencher donated its electron to CdTe QDs to occupy the hole and accordingly disrupted the electron–hole recombination.

Highly fluorescent CdTe nanocrystals: Synthesis, characterization, property, mechanism, and application as a sensor for biomolecule analysis

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), especially Fe-MOFs, have shown prospective application in eliminating organic dyes from wastewater due to their well-developed pores, water stability, easy preparation, and economy. Herein, we synthesized four types of Fe-MOFs (such as MIL-88A, MIL-88B, MIL-100, and MIL-101) using the hydrothermal method. The products were analyzed with several methods. By comparing the adsorption effect of those four types of Fe-MOFs on three kinds of dyes, it has been shown that MIL-100 owns the best adsorption efficiency on cationic organic dyes methylene blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB) in 180 min, while all MOFs have slight removal capacity on methyl orange (MO). MIL-100, as an adsorbent, was studied under various research conditions, and the maximum removal efficiencies to MB, RhB, and MO were found to be up to 97.36%, 88.75%, and 13.00%, respectively. Furthermore, cationic dye MB's removal by MIL-100 was fitted with a pseudo-second-order model and Langmuir isotherm model (Qm = 411.041 mg/g) by adsorption kinetics and isotherms research, and MIL-100 could rapidly and selectively divide MB from a binary complex aqueous solution of MB and MO. The as-fabricated MIL-100 also exhibited excellent recyclability after four adsorption-desorption recycles and can be treated as a potential substance with high removal efficiency of cationic organic dye-containing industrial effluents.

Jun Yao

Papers

Chemistry, Biology, and Medicine of Fluorescent Nanomaterials and Related Systems: New Insights into Biosensing, Bioimaging, Genomics, Diagnostics, and Therapy

Chemistry, physics and biology of graphene-based nanomaterials: new horizons for sensing, imaging and medicine

Graphene and its derivatives for cell biotechnology

Highly fluorescent CdTe nanocrystals: Synthesis, characterization, property, mechanism, and application as a sensor for biomolecule analysis

Insights into High-Performance and Selective Elimination of Cationic Dye from Multicomponent Systems by Using Fe-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks.